if you did any research then you would know that it is the same. It may be lost in translation but it is in reference to the GOD of Abraham which is the same GOD that Christians believe in which is God the Eternal Father.
A Life among Muslims
By Orin D. Parker
Orin D. Parker, “A Life among Muslims,” Ensign, Mar. 2002, 50
For 19 years, my wife, Rita, and I and our five children lived and worked in Muslim communities of the Middle East, developing close and lasting friendships with these sensitive and loving people. We found that we had much in common with them and a great deal indeed to learn from them. I’ve read Islamic poetry and some Islamic history and, of course, the Koran. But it is really in studying the people themselves that we learned about this remarkable faith.
The Family and Prayer
We found our Muslim friends especially interested in the Latter-day Saint concept of family and family government and the codes of conduct and rules of diet and health similar to their own. We, in turn, were extremely interested in their customs, particularly those pertaining to the family. We were impressed by their use of religious language in all of their greetings. We were impressed by the way in which Muslim families ask God to bless them as they go about their daily business. Public meetings we attended also opened with a prayer: “In the name of God, the munificent and merciful.” This prayer is also said before a Muslim family sits down to eat, as well as on many other occasions. It is even inscribed at the top of government stationery and included in the formalities of government, education, and culture, at least in those countries with which I am familiar. Many of their informal greetings also invoke Allah, the name of God, and their thanks are always expressed to Allah.
Though it is an unstructured religion in the Western sense, Islam is a living religion, an all-pervasive way of life. Its philosophy guides the thought and action of the true Muslim at all times. Muslims strive to live face-to-face with God. Their house of God is wherever they may spread their prayer rug. It is a wonderful experience in the Middle East to see, five times during the day’s business, all activity stop and people spread their rugs and address themselves to God. It’s a marvelous experience to visit Muslim friends in their homes at the time of prayer and watch as they excuse themselves and withdraw to another room to pray. I was highly complimented once when a Muslim neighbor asked me if I would care to join him.
Muslims thank God for everything because they believe that God provides everything; when God does not provide, we must accept doing without. When you give devout Muslims a gift, they will thank not you but God, because it was God who moved you to be kind and generous.
The Family and Education
Islam has developed as a paternalistic society. Within the family, the parents’ word is final. Great respect for parents and elders is expected, and it is given. In The Arab World Today, 1 Morroe Berger compares the reaction of Muslims and Christians to the parable in Matthew 21:28–30 [Matt. 21:28–30]. In this parable a man asks his two sons to work in the vineyard. The one says, “Yes, father,” but then does not. The other says, “No, father, I cannot,” but later relents and works. Now, in the Western mind and in the interpretation as given by Christ, the one who actually did the work is the one we should emulate. But the Muslim, Berger says, would follow the one who said “Yes, father,” thereby showing respect to his father.
This paternalistic family pattern extends through the society to create a generally authoritarian structure. In my field, education, we found that Muslim students learn primarily through memorization and imitation rather than independent research or original work. Moreover, the individual student’s academic field of study often reflects his father’s or his family’s desires more than his own wishes or capabilities. This, again, is an indication of how much the family dominates and of the respect the individual Muslim feels for his family. The family comes first. We have sometimes invited Muslim friends to our home for a special occasion, and then, at the last minute, been surprised they couldn’t come because a brother or sister had come to visit them, often from a nearby house.
Education is highly revered by Muslims. Muhammad said, “The pursuit of knowledge is an act of worship,” and he enjoined Muslims to “seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave.” Another time, in a more humorous vein, he said, “Seek knowledge even if it be in China.” Many of the oil-rich states of the Middle East provide unlimited education for their subjects. In fact, education has been free throughout Islamic history.
God Willing
The Muslims have a very deep faith which is sometimes misconstrued in the West as fatalism, the belief that events are fixed in advance and that we are powerless to change them. I had a memorable experience with this aspect of the Muslim faith soon after arriving in the Middle East. I was sent to Baghdad, Iraq, to take over an office which had been somewhat neglected for a couple of years. As a young American, I was determined to go there and get the office operating efficiently. When I gave the necessary directions and orders to my Muslim staff, I found that I was constantly receiving the answer, “Insha’ Allah,” which means “God willing.” I tended to interpret this response as meaning something like “mañana,” or “maybe,” or “if I get around to it.” So I decided one day that I’d had enough of “Insha’ Allah,” and called my farrash, Zeydan, into my office. (A farrash is a combination messenger, janitor, and concierge.)
Zeydan taught me something that day I will never forget. First I gave him a little lecture on the necessity in an office for the boss to know that when something needs to be done, it would in fact be done. When I had finished talking to him in my best Arabic, he proceeded to lecture me about his faith. He explained to me that all that is done must be in accordance with the will of God, that nothing is done without or in spite of that will, and that I should always expect him to answer “Insha’ Allah,” because it would be wrong for him to say that he could do something on his own. He was not expressing an unwillingness to work but rather a realistic humility and acknowledgment that the results lay in God’s hands. I finally understood.
Islam and Christianity
Muslims share with Latter-day Saints a strong belief in salvation and the hereafter. Muhammad said, “Life is a bridge. Pass over it to paradise, but do not build your houses upon it.” We were visited in Washington, D.C., one time by a family that had lived across from us in Beirut during the war years. They had constantly offered help to me after I sent my wife and children back to the United States for safety. Hajj Abdullah, the head of this family, often told me things that seemed to me to come directly out of the Doctrine and Covenants. On this occasion he told us something very similar to “he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come” (D&C 59:23).
As someone who has received Muslim hospitality, I have noticed with sadness that Muslims coming into Western society are often surprised at the ignorance of Islam around them. They are especially disappointed when they are considered unbelievers. The Islamic faith has dominated the Eastern world for centuries and continues to do so today. Any attempt to define culture in that area of the world must recognize Islam as its foundation. And even those who no longer observe all its tenets remain loyal to its basic concepts and give Islam its proper respect.
Within Islam, Christians and Jews have been held from the beginning in a special place of respect as “people of the book,” the Old Testament. The term in Arabic is ahl al-kitab, which can also be interpreted as “family of the book.” In the Islamic view, Jews, Christians, and Muslims share the same God and the same early religious heritage. Muslims see their religion as the culmination of a process stretching from Judaism to Christianity to Islam. Prophets of the Old Testament are recognized as such, and Christ is revered as a prophet, teacher, and the most perfect man. Thus it is surprising and culturally disturbing for Middle Eastern Muslims to find they are viewed as being outside the Judeo-Christian tradition.
It has been my experience that if we want to interact with Muslims as mutually respectful neighbors, we must understand and appreciate their beliefs, their philosophy, and their culture. We must come to know and love them if we hope and expect them to do the same for us.
Gospel topics: holy land, religion, tolerance
James B. Mayfield, “Ishmael, Our Brother,” Ensign, June 1979, 24
Through the cool night air and against the background of the first white streaks of dawn, the Muslim call to prayer would float melodiously into my Cairo apartment, stirring my imagination each morning I was awake. A splendid recitative, that call, voiced from a nearby mosque; full of artistic beauty and—particularly, of course, for Arab Muslims themselves—full of rich spiritual meaning.
The same call, at the same times of day, in the same magnificent Arabic, is to be heard throughout the Muslim world; from Indonesia through West China, through northern India and Pakistan and central Asia and Iran and Turkey, and to the great Arab area extending from the Persian Gulf and Iraq through the Near East and all along the southern Mediterranean to the shores of the Atlantic.
The Arab is vividly conscious of belonging to a living community spread across the globe, firmly located in both space and time. Not only does his religion place him in a geographic setting stretching from Singapore to Morocco, it places him in a historical setting back to Father Abraham through his son Ishmael, a history of religious faith and organized society of which he can be proud.
Most members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are aware that animosity has existed between Arabs and Jews these many years. Few members of the Church, however, have had a personal association with an Arab. Who are they? What should be our relationship with the Arab people? Arab culture and religion deserve to be known with sympathy as one of the great civilizations of this world. For the sons of Ishmael are our brethren, too!
The Promises to Abraham
We in the Christian world are accustomed to think of Abraham’s descendents in terms of Isaac, Jacob, and the Israelites. Many of us forget that through Abraham’s first-born son—Ishmael, whose name is translated as “God heareth”—another great nation developed which has also influenced the course of history.
The scriptures suggest that at least one of the promises given to Abraham applies equally to both Ishmael and Isaac. Long before either Ishmael or Isaac was born the Lord promised Abraham: “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing … [to] all families of the earth” (Gen. 12:2–3). Although we accept a specific role for the House of Israel, in a general sense it is true that the descendents of both Ishmael and Isaac have been “great” in population and achievement, a blessing to mankind. The Lord gave Abraham a second promise: “Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them. … So shall thy seed be” (Gen. 15:5). Later, when Hagar conceived Ishmael, an angel echoed Abraham’s promise: “I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude” (Gen. 16:10).
It is interesting that the children of both Isaac and Ishmael have desired to apply the scripture given to Abraham:
“This is my covenant which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised” (Gen. 17:10, 25). Circumcision has been a custom of the Jews (Israelites) as well as of the Arabs (Ishmaelites) since that time.
God further promised Abraham: “And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, … all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession” (Gen. 17:8). Again, this promise has been fulfilled for both Ishmael and Isaac, since both Arabs and Jews have resided there. Indeed, the scriptures prophetically and accurately said, “And he [Ishmael] shall dwell in the presence of his brethren” (Gen. 16:12).
The Lord describes Ishmael’s descendents, the Arabs, in these terms: “And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation” (Gen. 16:12; Gen. 17:20).
According to the Koran, Abraham brought Ishmael and his mother to Arabia and settled them near what was to become the great city of Mecca. Eventually the descendents of Ishmael’s twelve sons began to fill the Arabian peninsula. The Biblical account, though it differs in specifics, suggests also that Hagar and Ishmael were directed in their wanderings. Genesis recounts that an angel of the Lord comforted and preserved them, and that “God was with the lad [Ishmael].” (See Gen. 21:14–20.)
We are familiar with the history of Jacob’s twelve sons—the twelve tribes of Israel; but we are not equally familiar with the history of the twelve sons of Ishmael, a great and noble tradition that has created one of the truly great cultures of the world—the Islamic culture.
The Muslim’s religion permeates his life from dawn to nightfall and from his inner chamber to his shop in the crowded marketplace, with a thoroughness that most Christians are often slow to understand. Many Westerners have secularized such large areas of their lives that they have forgotten what it is to live a life in which every activity is religiously oriented.
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have reached a new threshold in the gospel’s expansion throughout the world. As Africa and Asia become a part of our great missionary program, we need a new sensitivity to the history, cultures, and religions of these areas. We cannot be friends with a person or community if we disdain or ignore what that person or community most deeply cherishes. I strongly feel that we must appreciate the Arab’s feeling for his language, his prophet, Muhammad, the religious duties of the Muslim, and the remarkable civilization Islam produced.
The Arabic Language
The Arab believes that Arabic is God’s language and thus the most beautiful, rich, and logical of all tongues. I have watched crowds of thousands sit enraptured for three and four hours as a local poet recites Arabic verse and scripture far into the night. One scholar of the Arab personality describes the verbal sophistication that the Arab’s love for his language has produced: “All those who have an opportunity to get acquainted with the speech patterns of Arabs, even of the illiterate majority in the villages and the nomadic tribes, are struck by the extraordinary mastery of language itself in the use of a rich vocabulary [and] … a very large number of well-rounded and often quite complex phrases. Compared to the eloquence of the simplest illiterate Arab, the use of English by the average American appears as a series of disjointed grunts.” (Raphael Patai, The Arab Mind, New York: Scribner, 1973, p. 50.)
This language reaches its highest expression in the Koran. The Arab, reverently relating to it as the direct word of God, finds in the Koran his supreme experience of linguistic and oratorical perfection. Yet the non-Arab, even though he will be struck by much that is harmonious with his own scriptures and by the beauty of many passages, will find it difficult to read.
One reason is that Western readers expect a text to contain a meaning that is fully expressed and immediately understood. Eastern peoples, in general, love verbal symbolism that must be pondered and savored. The revealed phrase is for them an array of symbols from which more and more flashes of spiritual awareness come with each reading. The words are reference points for an inexhaustible doctrine; the implicit meaning is everything, and the obscurities of the literal meaning are so many veils masking the majesty of the content.
Muhammad, the Arab Prophet
Muhammad was born in Mecca about A.D. 570. Orphaned early, he was brought up chiefly by an uncle, Abu Talib, who treated him kindly, but apparently could not provide much formal education. Muhammad was a capable and honorable young man, and is said to have been esteemed in the city as “The Trustworthy.” A wealthy widow, Khadija, some years older than he, entrusted him with the management of her business and afterwards married him. Their marriage was an ideally happy union. At first in the employ of his uncle, and later of Khadija, Muhammad led caravans to Syria and Yeman and accumulated considerable information about the religious beliefs and customs of Jews and Christians.
When about forty years of age, Muhammad, who had been spending much time in meditation and prayer in solitary places, claimed he experienced a vision in which, as he later explained, the angel Gabriel appeared and announced his prophetic call.
Muslims claim that like Jeremiah, Muhammad at first doubted his capacity to speak as a prophet. He confided in Khadija, who comfortingly reminded him that he had always led a virtuous life, spoken the truth, returned good for evil, and been kind to all; she assured him that the vision meant that he was to be the divinely appointed prophet of their people.
Throughout the remainder of his life, Muhammad frequently passed into trancelike states in which his utterances, accepted as divine revelations, were written down by scribes, and now constitute the Koran—the holy scriptures of Islam. The Muslim holy book is thus for them the climax of a long sequence of volumes of revelations granted to a long succession of prophets, beginning with Adam and ending with Muhammad.
The holiest place in the holy city of Mecca is the Kaaba, where Muslims believe Abraham and Ishmael worshipped. In Muhammad’s day, the Kaaba contained an altar to the one true God of Abraham, but various pagan images and practices had also been added. During this pre-Islamic period, people from all over Arabia came in pilgrimages to worship them, engaging in alcoholic and sexual orgies, and occasionally, it is said, offering human sacrifice. These pagan customs permitted infanticide; gambling was rife; blood feuds and private vengeance constituted the justice of tribal ethics; there was no national unity; and the tribes were in frequent warfare. Muhammad saw his people as having rejected Abraham’s higher values. Judaism and Christianity, which Muhammad believed were corrupt and apostate forms of Abraham’s worship, neither won many converts nor made much headway in reforming and enlightening the inhabitants.
Muhammad tried to convert people from their idolatrous worship and low order of morality to the exclusive worship of the one true God (Allah) and to the higher plane of personal and social morality which He commanded. Allah, the Arabic word for God, is described in the Koran, chapter six, as the same God who appeared to the prophets of the Old and New Testaments: “And We gave him Isaac and Jacob. Each did We guide; and Noah did We guide before, and of his descendents, David and Solomon and Job and Joseph and Moses and Aaron. … And Zacharias and John and Jesus and Elias. … These are they to whom We gave the Book and authority and prophecy.” (The Holy Quran, trans. Maulana Muhammad Ali, Lahore Pakistan: Ahmadiyyah Anjuman Ishaat Islam, 1951, pp. 85–90.)
Muhammad struggled to teach charity as the basis of social relationships: “Every good act is charity. Your smiling in your brother’s face is charity: and exhortation addressed to your fellow-men to do virtuous deeds is equal to alms-giving. Putting a wanderer in the right path is charity; removing stones and thorns and other obstructions from the road is charity; giving water to the thirsty is charity.” “A man’s true wealth hereafter is the good he does in this world to his fellow-men. When he dies, people will ask, What property has he left behind him? But the angels, who examine him in the grave, will ask, What good deeds hast thou sent before thee?”
Like the apostle Paul, Muhammad recognized the existence of slavery, but unlike Paul, was able to do much to mitigate it. He forbade the separation of captive mothers, children, and brothers. He commended the freeing of slaves as an act of pity which God will reward. Muhammad also abolished infanticide, made kindness to animals an integral part of his religion, insisted upon honest weights and measures, forbade the exaction of usury, and in other ways alleviated the condition of debtors. He forbade gambling and the use of intoxicating liquors; and if he did not succeed in freeing the Islamic world altogether from intemperance in either of these respects, he at least made such vices rarer than they had previously been in the Arab community.
Since many of his male followers lost their lives in defense of the faith, and a superfluity of women resulted, it is not surprising that Muhammad did not abolish polygamy and concubinage. On the other hand, he severely condemned and punished adultery and fornication. A man was limited to four wives. He must not show favoritism among his wives, either in affection or in material provision for them, nor could he marry more than he could decently support. He could not divorce them without serious reasons. Women could obtain legal separation from their husbands on grave grounds. Muhammad’s laws of inheritance make definite provision for daughters, although not equally with sons. The strict seclusion of women and the requirement that they wear veils in the presence of men other than near relatives seem to be for the most part later customs of Muslims and not an integral part of the teaching of the Prophet himself. While neither Muhammad nor his followers gave women anything like full equality with men, they in most respects improved the position of women in Arabia.
Thus Muhammad, in the short span of twenty years, uplifted the life of an entire country, on every side. He not only persuaded all Arabia to worship only one God, but to apply their religion to every aspect of morality, law, and social organization. Muhammad found the Arabs debased and superstitious. He left them united in one faith, destined to become for a time the leaders of the world, not only in religion but in all forms of culture. No wonder that Muslims think that he was the last and greatest of the prophets and that his religion has a universal mission.
Although the Western world often calls the Islamic religion Muhammadism—implying a worship for Muhammad—the term Muhammadism in fact is offensive to a good Muslim. Muhammad was a man, as his contemporaries well knew and as he himself never ceased to emphasize.
But he was a good and an exceptional man. Tradition tells us that he was deeply religious, earnest in prayer, sharing all the hardships of his followers, and claiming no special privileges. He was kind and generous. When he committed a fault, he repented of it openly and more than made amends. He inspired the utmost love and devotion in his disciples, who were ready to give their lives in his cause. He was considerate of slaves, freed them when he could, and protected them by law. He was fond of children, who were always attracted to him. He treated all Muslims of all tribes as equal before God, with the result that Muslims claim that theirs is the most democratic of all religions.
The Islamic Religion
In Islam, the worship of God is purely spiritual, and the believer prays directly to him, without the use of images or pictures. An Imam leads the believer in prayer in a mosque, but is not a priest. Any layman is qualified to so serve, and the absence of a priestly class has ensured a simplicity of liturgy.
This quadrangular pattern contains a stylized script that reads, “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God.”
Each worshipper memorizes the opening chapter of the Koran, the Fatihah, and recites it on many occasions and in much the same manner that many Christians may recite the Lord’s prayer:
Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds!
The Compassionate, the merciful!
King on the day of reckoning!
Thee only do we worship, and to Thee do we cry for help.
Guide Thou us on the straight path,
The path of those to whom Thou hast been gracious;—
With whom Thou art not angry, and who do not go astray. Amen.
The first duty of the Muslim is belief—belief in God, his unity, his revelations, his prophets, his books and angels, and the Last Day. The sense of God’s oneness, at its purest, has emancipated the Muslim from all other fears and fostered strength of soul. Legality and communal consciousness may have their disadvantages, but they generate a dignity and loyalty that are characteristic Muslim virtues. Islam’s faith in God has taught the oneness of believers; and class consciousness, though it may be economically real, is religiously repudiated. Hospitality is an identifying quality of Arab society. Attitudes of responsibility—to family, to community, to God—are a moral consequence of the recognition of God, all qualities recognizable and appreciated by the Latter-day Saint.
For the faithful Arab, Muhammad entered a world which had lost faith, and with it the secret of inward peace and outward order. In this world, waiting for the liberating voice of God, Muhammad had the eloquence, conviction, and intensity of an inspiring preacher; the courage, chivalry, and success of an admirable soldier. Superb in his gifts and character, he dominated his culture in his time. For the Muslim, history takes a critical turn because of him.
Yet was Muhammad a prophet? Did he receive revelation from God? Some would see Muhammad as a deceiver, others an apologist and copier of Jewish or Christian theology. Scholars have long debated what Arabian Jewry and Arabian Christianity in the seventh century were like and how much contact Muhammad had with them. If we examine the contents of the Koran, it would seem conclusive that Muhammad had no personal contact with the written Bible since the narratives appearing in the Koran differ considerably, suggesting oral transmission. There is almost nothing we could call a direct quotation from either Testament in the Koran.
Latter-day Saints, familiar with Joseph Smith’s relation to the Book of Mormon, can appreciate the common belief of Islam that the Koran was revelation, not Muhammad’s writing, a belief reinforced by the tradition that Muhammad was actually illiterate.
The Koran emphasizes the Day of Judgment when men will appear before God (Allah) and his angels. The righteous believer will be eternally rewarded in a heaven of beautiful rivers and springs, plenteous food, unfermented wine, and other delights appealing to desert dwellers, while the wicked will burn without being consumed. Thus a Muslim view of life after death parallels the traditional Christian view of hell and heaven. In the paradisiacal glory for those who have lived God’s law, all struggles are over, all low passions of avarice, envy, rivalry, vanity, and vengeance vanished, every desire of the soul achieved.
I have found that western prejudices against Islam are often the result of misunderstood or inappropriate translations of sacred writings. Islam means “submission to Allah” and implies the revelation of God’s will to which submission is made and by which perfect peace gained. It is not a passive state, but requires active striving after righteousness including absolutely rejecting idolatry (the worship of any gods other than Allah); actively propagating the faith when possible, obeying the Koran’s injunctions regarding moral conduct, and conforming to the “five pillars of Islam”:
1. Repeating and fully accepting the short Muslim creed included in the call to prayer—“There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is His prophet.”
2. Prayer after ablution five times daily. The traditional Muslim literally kneels and prays whenever summoned by the muezzin (prayer caller), whether he is in his home, at work, or on the street. On Fridays (the Muslim Sabbath) at noon he should be in a mosque if possible.
3. Almsgiving. One-fortieth of a faithful Muslim’s possessions is annually devoted to public charity and the support of religion.
4. A daily fast (no food or liquids) from sunrise to sunset during the month of Ramadan, in commemoration of Muhammad’s flight from Mecca to the city of Medina in A.D. 622. This rule is relaxed in the case of one who is sick or on a journey. Simple foods are to be taken in the evening and before daybreak.
5. At least one pilgrimage to Mecca. The pilgrimage brings together representatives from all parts of the Islamic world, promoting an interchange of experiences that has doubtless done much for the spiritual and cultural solidarity of Islam through the centuries.
Many Latter-day Saints are surprised that Islam considers Jesus to have been the greatest prophet of all time prior to Muhammad. The Koran says that Jesus was miraculously conceived by the Virgin Mary through the intervention of God, but that Jesus was not begotten by God. Like the Jewish community and some Christian groups, Muslims accept Christ as a great teacher, inspired by God, but not divine.
Orthodox Muslims do not believe God would suffer Christ, a blameless man, to be crucified; thus they believe that another was substituted for him, and that Jesus was taken up into heaven without tasting death. The Koran suggests that later followers of Christ, misunderstanding or perverting his teachings, afterward deified him and developed doctrines about the incarnation, the Trinity, and the Virgin Mary.
But for Latter-day Saints, the crucial question is: Was Muhammad a prophet of God? Are the teachings and revelations found in the Koran to be taken seriously? Anyone who reads through the Koran with patience and sensitivity will acknowledge its literary quality, its strong commitment to the traditions of the ancient prophets, its insistence that man will be held accountable for his deeds and must seek to establish a closer relationship with his God.
Yet is the Koran the “Word of God?” For some the Koran is but the creation of Muhammad’s vivid imagination, scattered with partial truths discovered in the conversations he had with Christian and Jewish merchants of his time. Others point out that it has brought to the Arab people a high form of religious truth, which reflects God’s concern and love for them and must not be disdained or rejected out of hand.
In Alma 29:8 an American prophet of ancient times declared a most powerful message: “For behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have; therefore, we see the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true.”
A most powerful and direct explanation of this book lies in the “Statement of the First Presidency Regarding God’s Love for All Mankind” issued 15 February 1978. In part, it reads: “The great religious leaders of the world such as Mohammad, Confucius, and the Reformers, as well as philosophers including Socrates, Plato, and others, received a portion of God’s light. Moral truths were given to them by God to enlighten whole nations and to bring a higher level of understanding to individuals.”
Many may reject some of the teachings of Muhammad because they seem so inconsistent with the fundamental teachings of the gospel. Yet there may be as much difference between what Muhammad taught in the seventh century and what the Islamic community teaches today as there is between what the apostles taught and what Christian churches teach today. The message of the Koran—that God is the creator and judge of man, that God spoke to prophets (through Mohammad’s time), that we will be held accountable for what we do, and that everyone should seek to live in accordance with God’s laws—clearly identifies it as a conveyer of moral truths with which we should be familiar.
Note the Muslim commitment to the prophets of the Old and New Testaments, found in the second chapter of the Koran: “We believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and that which the Prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered.” (Koran 2:136.)
This all suggests that a careful reading of the Koran may in fact provide insights and clues, even specific references from their scriptures, in how best to communicate our message. An understanding of Islamic theology will provide a common language for sharing insights and spiritual values.
Arab Civilization
Westerners living in a period when their own civilization seemed, until recently, to dominate the world, do well to remember that it was not always so. If we go back a thousand years, we find Europe was politically feeble and intellectually barren. From the ninth to the thirteenth centuries, Baghdad and Cairo and Cordoba in Muslim Spain were the economic, intellectual, and cultural centers of the world. It was Arab civilization which produced that era’s science, mathematics, and poetry for mankind, whose merchants organized letters of credit from Africa to Finland and from the British Isles to Japan, and whose armies determined political events.
At a time when Europe was prosecuting its scientists, burning their works, and suppressing their new ideas, Muhammad’s writings were urging Muslims to go in “search for knowledge even in China.” The direct result of this admiration for learning was an indefatigable search for Greek, Persian, Egyptian, and Indian knowledge. Over and over again, the Koran discusses reading, writing, the pen, the book, and knowledge. The ink with which scientists wrote was considered the equivalent of the blood of “martyrs” and schools and universities were established throughout the Arab world.
Contributions to Medicine
Arab contributions to medicine and mathematics were particularly impressive. The “golden” period of Arab medicine came with the accession to power of the Abbasid dynasty in A.D. 750. During this period, the Arab sovereigns or caliphs invited to Baghdad all learned men in the expanding empire, including the physicians of Jundi-Shapor, a famed medical center in Persia.
Greek, Persian, and other authoritative medical works were rapidly translated into Arabic. During the reign of Caliph Al-Mamoun, 107 books of the Greek physician Galen alone were translated into Arabic and he sought Greek manuscripts throughout Byzantium. This great enthusiasm for Greek works has led some medical historians to conclude—mistakenly—that the Arab contribution was merely to preserve Greek medical knowledge, but the Arabs also added tremendous developments of their own.
Arab physicians possessed advanced knowledge—unknown to the Greeks—of the location and function of the eye muscles, of pupillary movements, of the difference between smallpox and measles, of the use of animal gut in suture, of the laryngeal nerve, of the preparation of mercurate ointment, of blood circulation, of mastectomy for cancer, of the use of forcepslike instruments in cases of difficult childbirth, and descriptions of over two hundred surgical instruments.
Throughout the universities of the Western world—Salerno, Cordoba, Seville, Montpellier, Paris, and many others—the Arab influence on medical science was great. Latin translations of their works up until the eighteenth century—five hundred years after the fall of the Islamic empire—provided the basis for Western Europe’s medical textbooks.
Contributions to Mathematics
We also owe much in the field of mathematics to Arab civilization. Because Caliph Al-Momoun set scholars to work translating all the great Greek texts into Arabic, the works of Ptolemy, Euclid, Aristotle, and many others were eventually circulated from Baghdad to Islamic universities as far away as Spain. Through these Arab universities in Spain, scientific knowledge was transferred to Europe during the Middle Ages.
In addition to translating Alexandrian, Greek, and Indian treatises, Arab scholars soon began their own contributions: “Arabic” numerals, the use of the decimal system in calculations, the development of algebra, the relationship between algebra and geometry which forms the foundation for analytical geometry, advances in plane and spherical trigonometry, forerunners of logarithm tables, and specific solutions to various quadratic equations.
Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi wrote the most important mathematical work of his time, Hisab al-Jabr w-al-Muqabalah (Book of the Calculations of Restoration and Reduction) which gave the science of algebra (al-jabra) its name. From the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries, it was the principal mathematical text of European universities.
In astronomy, the Arabs improved the Greek astrolabe and invented many remarkably accurate instruments which enabled them to study the stars and measure distances between celestial bodies. As a result of their studies, they established the fact that the earth is a sphere floating in space (almost 400 years before Columbus!). Furthermore, they performed a highly complicated operation to calculate the length of a terrestrial degree and used the result to determine very accurately the circumference and diameter of the earth.
They calculated the length of the stellar year, charted the positions and orbits of stars and planets, and studied the spots on the face of the sun; they knew by numerical calculations at what time the planet Mercury would cross the face of the sun, and they knew that the earth was considerably smaller than the sun. In addition, they corrected mistakes in Ptolemy’s astronomical system and developed a navigational astrolabe.
In summary, it should be noted that no description of the medieval period in world history can ignore the many contributions that this Arab civilization has given to us in the fields of science, philosophy, literature, the humanities, architecture, and the arts. Much of what we praise and espouse in the European Renaissance was stimulated and broadened through contacts with Islamic civilization.
Understanding Islam
Ishmael has indeed become a “great nation,” endowed with a sense of civilization for which all the Western world should be grateful. Yet in the final analysis, the great Arab contributions must be seen as a function of religion. Islam is postulated on a fundamental faith in God, a God who acts and who speaks to men through prophets and makes specific demands on them. On the human side, it postulates a fundamental worth in human nature, and an inescapable moral responsibility for every individual, who must give an accounting on the Day of Judgment—concepts certainly compatible with Latter-day Saint theology.
Muslims would, of course, be quick to admit their practice has fallen short of the high ideals taught by Muhammad—just as Latter-day Saints confess that we too have often failed to implement gospel principles in a consistent way.
In many ways Islam for the Muslim has the same kind of impact that the restored gospel has for the Latter-day Saint. Religious values and concepts are not just one part of reality but the very essence of reality. For the Muslim, religion determines the format of civilization. Insofar as economics, politics, and all other factors in their social life have meaning for the Muslim, it is derived from religion. Islam is the Muslim’s orientation to life, the way in which he relates himself to his world.
There will be increasing contacts between Arabs and Latter-day Saints; but the growth of mutual understanding and respect will be discouragingly slow until we recognize the beauty and the religious foundation upon which Arab civilization is built, that the concepts of justice, purity, and human progress are an integral part of both Islam and the restored gospel, and that an awareness of the similarities—and not just the differences—is the key to an acceptance and appreciation of what we have to offer. The sons of Ishmael are indeed our brethren, too!
Gospel topic: religion
Viewing Muhammad from the understanding of the restored gospel provides greater knowledge of Heavenly Father’s love for His children in all nations.
James A. Toronto, “A Latter-day Saint Perspective on Muhammad,” Ensign, Aug. 2000, 51
Recently I received a phone call from two Church members in Los Angeles who had become acquainted with a Muslim neighbor from Pakistan. When they shared with him the story of Joseph Smith’s First Vision, his response surprised them. After stating that Muslims accept no prophets after Muhammad, he said that Joseph Smith’s story shared similarities with Muhammad’s. He said, “We believe Muhammad encountered a divine messenger who informed him of his new calling as prophet. He received revelations of new scripture that contains God’s word to mankind, and he established a community of believers that developed into a major world religion.” Knowing little about Muslims and Islam* or about Muhammad, the members were unsure in their responses.
The issues raised by this experience imply a broader question that is relevant for all Latter-day Saints in view of the Church’s global presence and the increasingly pluralistic societies in which we all live: What is an appropriate Latter-day Saint attitude toward other religions’ claims of divinely inspired prophets, scriptures, visions, and miracles? The following may be helpful and is based on gospel insights I have gained over the years while studying and living in Muslim societies. Seeing Muhammad’s role in religious history from the perspective of the restored gospel provides great understanding of one of history’s most influential spiritual leaders, helps us appreciate Heavenly Father’s love for His children of all nations, and gives principles to guide us in building positive relations with friends and neighbors of other faiths.
Thoughts on Interfaith Relations
President Gordon B. Hinckley has consistently advocated dialogue and mutual respect in interfaith relations. He has admonished members of the Church to cultivate “a spirit of affirmative gratitude” for those of differing religious, political, and philosophical persuasions, adding that “we do not in any way have to compromise our theology” in the process. He gave this counsel: “Be respectful of the opinions and feelings of other people. Recognize their virtues; don’t look for their faults. Look for their strengths and their virtues, and you will find strength and virtues that will be helpful in your own life.” 1
President Hinckley’s emphasis on building interfaith understanding is rooted in fundamental gospel principles—humility, charity, respect for eternal truth, and recognition of God’s love for all mankind—taught by Jesus Christ and by ancient and modern prophets. The Savior repeatedly affirmed Heavenly Father’s boundless concern for the well-being of each of His sons and daughters, as in the parable of the lost sheep (see Luke 15). In the parable of the good Samaritan, He taught that one of the keys to true discipleship is to treat others kindly and compassionately in spite of political, racial, or religious differences (see Luke 10:25–37). He denounced intolerance and rivalry among religious groups and the tendency to extol one’s own virtues and deprecate the spiritual status of others. Addressing a parable to those who “trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others,” Jesus condemned the pride of the Pharisee who prayed, “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are” and commended the humility of the publican who implored, “God be merciful to me a sinner” (see Luke 18:9–14).
The Book of Mormon teaches that Heavenly Father “is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; … and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth” (Alma 26:37; see also 1 Ne. 1:14). Because of this love for His children of all nations, the Lord has provided spiritual light to guide and enrich their lives. Elder Orson F. Whitney (1855–1931) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles observed that God “is using not only his covenant people, but other peoples as well, to consummate a work, stupendous, magnificent, and altogether too arduous for this little handful of Saints to accomplish by and of themselves.” 2
Elder B. H. Roberts (1857–1933) of the Seventy also spoke on this doctrine: “While the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is established for the instruction of men; and it is one of God’s instrumentalities for making known the truth yet he is not limited to that institution for such purposes, neither in time nor place. God raises up wise men and prophets here and there among all the children of men, of their own tongue and nationality, speaking to them through means that they can comprehend. … All the great teachers are servants of God; among all nations and in all ages. They are inspired men, appointed to instruct God’s children according to the conditions in the midst of which he finds them.” 3
The Prophet Joseph Smith often expounded on this theme of the universality of God’s love and the related need to remain open to all available sources of divine light and knowledge. “One of the grand fundamental principles of ‘Mormonism,’ ” he said, “is to receive truth, let it come from whence it may.” 4 The Prophet exhorted Church members to “gather all the good and true principles in the world and treasure them.” 5
Church leaders continually have encouraged members to foster amicable relations with people of other faiths by acknowledging the spiritual truth they possess, emphasizing the similarities in belief and lifestyle, and teaching us to disagree agreeably. Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915–85) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke on this theme to members and nonmembers during an area conference in Tahiti: “Keep all the truth and all the good that you have. Do not abandon any sound or proper principle. Do not forsake any standard of the past which is good, righteous, and true. Every truth found in every church in all the world we believe. But we also say this to all men—Come and take the added light and truth that God has restored in our day. The more truth we have, the greater is our joy here and now; the more truth we receive, the greater is our reward in eternity.” 6
During October 1991 general conference, President Howard W. Hunter of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said: “As members of the Church of Jesus Christ, we seek to bring all truth together. We seek to enlarge the circle of love and understanding among all the peoples of the earth. Thus we strive to establish peace and happiness, not only within Christianity but among all mankind.” 7
Likewise, Elder Russell M. Nelson quoted a public statement issued by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in October 1992, calling upon “all people everywhere to re-commit themselves to the time-honored ideals of tolerance and mutual respect. We sincerely believe that as we acknowledge one another with consideration and compassion we will discover that we can all peacefully coexist despite our deepest differences.” He then added: “That pronouncement is a contemporary confirmation of the Prophet Joseph’s earlier entreaty for tolerance. Unitedly we may respond. Together we may stand, intolerant of transgression but tolerant of neighbors with differences they hold sacred. Our brothers and sisters throughout the world are all children of God.” 8
Latter-day Saint Interest in Muhammad
One of the noteworthy examples of the Latter-day Saint commitment to treasure up true principles and cultivate affirmative gratitude is the admiration that Church leaders have expressed over the years for the spiritual contributions of Muhammad.
As early as 1855, at a time when Christian literature generally ridiculed Muhammad as the Antichrist and the archenemy of Western civilization, Elders George A. Smith (1817–75) and Parley P. Pratt (1807–57) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles delivered lengthy sermons demonstrating an accurate and balanced understanding of Islamic history and speaking highly of Muhammad’s leadership. Elder Smith observed that Muhammad was “descended from Abraham and was no doubt raised up by God on purpose” to preach against idolatry. He sympathized with the plight of Muslims, who, like Latter-day Saints, found it difficult “to get an honest history” written about them. Speaking next, Elder Pratt went on to express his admiration for Muhammad’s teachings, asserting that “upon the whole, … [Muslims] have better morals and better institutions than many Christian nations.” 9
Latter-day Saint appreciation of Muhammad’s role in history can also be found in the 1978 First Presidency statement regarding God’s love for all mankind. This declaration specifically mentions Muhammad as one of “the great religious leaders of the world” who received “a portion of God’s light” and affirms that “moral truths were given to [these leaders] by God to enlighten whole nations and to bring a higher level of understanding to individuals.” 10
In recent years, respect for the spiritual legacy of Muhammad and for the religious values of the Islamic community has led to increasing contact and cooperation between Latter-day Saints and Muslims around the world. This is due in part to the presence of Latter-day Saint congregations in areas such as the Levant, North Africa, the Persian Gulf, and Southeast Asia. The Church has sought to respect Islamic laws and traditions that prohibit conversion of Muslims to other faiths by adopting a policy of nonproselyting in Islamic countries of the Middle East. Yet examples of dialogue and cooperation abound, including visits of Muslim dignitaries at Church headquarters in Salt Lake City; Muslim use of Church canning facilities to produce halal (ritually clean) food products; Church humanitarian aid and disaster relief sent to predominantly Muslim areas including Jordan, Kosovo, and Turkey; academic agreements between Brigham Young University and various educational and governmental institutions in the Islamic world; the existence of the Muslim Student Association at BYU; and expanding collaboration between the Church and Islamic organizations to safeguard traditional family values worldwide. 11 The recent initiation of the Islamic Translation Series, cosponsored by BYU and the Church, has resulted in several significant exchanges between Muslim officials and Latter-day Saint Church leaders. A Muslim ambassador to the United Nations predicted that this translation series “will play a positive role in the West’s quest for a better understanding of Islam.” 12
A cabinet minister in Egypt, aware of the common ground shared by Muslims and Latter-day Saints, once remarked to Elder Howard W. Hunter of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles that “if a bridge is ever built between Christianity and Islam it must be built by the Mormon Church.” 13 The examples of Latter-day Saint–Muslim interaction mentioned above, together with the Church’s establishment in 1989 of two major centers for educational and cultural exchange in the Middle East (Jerusalem and Amman), reflect the traditional attitude of respect for Islam that Church leaders have exhibited from earliest times. These activities represent tangible evidence of Latter-day Saint commitment to promote greater understanding of the Muslim world and witness an emerging role for the Church in helping to bridge the gap that has existed historically between Muslims and Christians.
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Not shown are North America and South America, whose percentage of Muslims is less than 5 percent. North America has approximately 7 million Muslims, or 2.3 percent of the population, of which 5.5 million are in the United States. South America has approximately 1 million Muslims, accounting for 2 percent of the population. (Map by Tom Child; information courtesy of Oxford University Press.)
The Life of Muhammad
Who, then, was Muhammad, and what is there in his life and teachings that has attracted the interest and admiration of Church leaders? What strength and virtues can we find in Muslim experience that, as President Hinckley has suggested, will be helpful in our own spiritual lives?
At the dawn of the 21st century, Islam is one of the largest and fastest-growing religions in the world. Muslims currently number more than one billion (almost one-fifth of the world’s population), concentrated primarily in Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, the Middle East, and North Africa, but with significant populations located in Europe and North America. Some even project that Islam will become the most populous religion in the world during the first half of this new century. The roots of this dynamic and, for some people, misunderstood religious movement can be traced back 14 centuries to the humble beginnings and founding work of Muhammad, whom Muslims consider to be the last of a long line of prophets sent by God to teach Islam to the world.
Muhammad (Arabic, “praised”) was born in 570 C.E. 14 in Mecca, a prosperous city that was a center of caravan trade and religious pilgrimage in the northwest Arabian peninsula. Orphaned in early childhood, he lived a life of poverty as a youth, working as a herdsman for his family and neighbors, an occupation that gave him ample time and solitude to contemplate the deeper questions of life. Muhammad gained a reputation in the community as a trusted arbiter and peacemaker as indicated in the following account:
“At one time the Quraish [Muhammad’s tribe] decided to rebuild the Ka’ba [sacred shrine], to reset the stones above the foundations. In one of the corners they wanted to put the black stone, but could not decide who should have the honour of placing it there. They would have quarrelled violently if [Muhammad] the young man they all admired and trusted had not come by. They asked [him] … to settle the dispute. He told them to spread a large cloak and place the black stone in the middle. They did so. Then, he asked a man from each of the four clans who were in dispute to take hold of a corner of the cloak. In this way they all shared the honour of carrying the stone.” 15
At the age of 25, Muhammad married a widow, Khadija, who was 15 years his senior and a prosperous caravan merchant. She knew of his reputation for honesty and hard work, and she made the proposal of marriage that turned out to be a successful and happy one, producing four daughters and two sons. For the next 15 years Muhammad was engaged with Khadija in running the family business and raising their family. It was during this period also that he retreated often into the solitude of the desert to pray, meditate, and worship. He had become dissatisfied with the corruption, idolatry, and social inequities that plagued Mecca; he sought for a higher truth that would provide peace, justice, and spiritual fulfillment for him and his people.
In 610 C.E., when he was 40, his spiritual seeking and preparation reached a culmination. According to Islamic history, one night while Muhammad was engaged in prayer and meditation on Mount Hira near Mecca, the angel Gabriel appeared to him to deliver a message from God (Arabic, Allah). 16 Three times the angel commanded that Muhammad “Recite! In the name of thy Lord who created, created man of a blood-clot. Recite! And thy Lord is the Most Generous, who taught by the pen—Taught man that he knew not” (Qur’an 96:1–5). 17
For a period of 22 years, from 610 C.E. to his death in 632, Muhammad received communications that he said were from Allah, by way of the angel Gabriel, and that he memorized verbatim and recited orally to his disciples. These oral recitations of Allah’s mind and will are collectively referred to as al-Qur’an (“recitation”) by Muslims. However, Muhammad’s preaching against idolatry, polytheism, female infanticide, and other religious and social corruptions met fierce opposition in Mecca. His message was rejected in this early period in Mecca, and he and his fledgling community of converts, mostly a few family members and close friends, were shunned, persecuted, and even tortured.
Then a group of men came from the town Yathrib and asked Muhammad to act as an arbiter in the squabbles which were ruining their town. Muhammad saw an opportunity to alleviate the suffering of his followers and agreed to leave Mecca. First he sent his followers, and then he himself went to the town, which would thereafter be known as Madinat an-Nabi (“City of the Prophet”), or simply Medina. This emigration (Arabic, hijra), from Mecca to Medina, took place in 622 C.E., the year commemorated as the starting point of the Muslim Hijri calendar. Muslims saw in the Hijra a fundamental turning point in the life of the prophet and in the nature of the Muslim community. From being a rejected preacher, Muhammad became a statesman, legislator, judge, educator, and military leader.
In Medina, the Muslims had freedom to establish themselves securely, develop their institutions for governance and education, and become a prosperous community, in contrast to their status in Mecca as a persecuted, marginal religious minority.
A few years after the Hijra, Muhammad was able to return to the city of Mecca, where his teachings were gradually adopted. Today Mecca is considered by Muslims to be the spiritual center of Islam and the holiest of cities, with Medina as the second and Jerusalem the third holiest cities.
In 632, at the age of 62, Muhammad died unexpectedly after a short fever. By any measure Muhammad was phenomenally successful during his career, even though his name and achievements have been the subject of controversy over the centuries in Western civilization. During the last half of the 20th century, however, non-Muslim historians have become more objective and complimentary, acknowledging that Muhammad’s achievements in both political and religious realms assure him a place as one of the most influential figures in history.
Contrary to Western civilization’s stereotype of Muhammad as a false prophet or enemy of Christians, Muslim sources portray a man of unfailing humility, kindness, good humor, generosity, and simple tastes. Though he smiled often, it is said he seldom laughed because, as one famous hadith (report of Muhammad’s sayings or actions) states, “If you knew what I know you would cry much and laugh little.” His gentle humor is evident in the following story:
“One day a little old woman came to him to ask whether old wretched women would also go to Paradise. ‘No,’ he answered, ‘there are no old women in Paradise!’ Then, looking at her grieved face, he said with a smile: ‘They will all be transformed in Paradise, for there, there is only one youthful age for all!’ ”
He dispensed wise and practical advice to followers. When a man asked if he needed to tie his camel up, since he already trusted in God’s help and protection, Muhammad replied: “First tether it, and then trust in God.” Some reports indicate that Muhammad’s family were poor and often hungry, only able to afford coarse bread at times. His statement, faqri fakhri, “My poverty is my pride,” reveals his joy in simple pleasures, and this saying was later adopted as a slogan by Muslim ascetics. He was especially fond of children, allowing his two young grandsons to climb on his back while he was performing prayers. A man once criticized him for kissing his grandson Hasan, saying, “I have 10 boys but have never kissed any of them.” Muhammad answered, “He who does not show mercy will not receive mercy.” 18
In his last speech in the mosque in Medina, given on the day he died, Muhammad displayed humility and magnanimity in bidding farewell to his community after more than 30 years of sacrifice on their behalf: “If there is any man whose honour I might have injured, here I am to answer for it. If I have unjustifiably inflicted bodily harm on anyone, I present myself for retribution. If I owe anything to anyone, here is my property and he may help himself to it. … Nobody should say: ‘I fear enmity and rancor of the Messenger of God.’ I nurse no grudge towards anyone. These things are repugnant to my nature and temperament. I abhor them so.” 19
With this view of Muhammad in mind, we can understand why Muslims commonly bless his name when it is mentioned in speech or writing, invoke his name in conversations, and celebrate his birthday. Pious Muslims strive to emulate his example in every aspect of life: mode of dress, style of grooming, table manners, religious rituals, and benevolence toward others.
The Teachings of Muhammad
Islamic life revolves around five basic principles that are outlined in general terms in the Qur’an and expounded in the teachings and customs (Arabic, sunna) of Muhammad. These five pillars are the witness of faith, prayer, almsgiving, fasting, and pilgrimage to Mecca. Some examples of Muhammad’s teachings on charitable giving and fasting will illustrate his manner of teaching and his central role in Muslim life.
The principle of almsgiving is designed to care for the poor and to foster empathy in the community of believers. The Qur’an states that charity and compassion, not mechanical observance of rituals, define one’s worthiness in God’s sight (2:177). Muhammad’s sayings clearly teach the practice of charity:
“None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.”
“Each person’s every joint must perform a charity every day the sun comes up: to act justly between two people is a charity; to help a man with his mount, lifting him onto it or hoisting up his belongings onto it is a charity; a good word is a charity; every step you take to prayers is a charity; and removing a harmful thing from the road is charity.”
“Charity extinguishes sin as water extinguishes fire.”
“Smiling to another person is an act of charity.”
“He who sleeps with a full stomach knowing that his neighbor is hungry [is not a believer].” 20
Muslims view fasting as having a dual purpose: to bring about a state of humility and surrender of one’s soul to God, and to foster compassion and care for the poor in the community. Thus, fasting and almsgiving go hand in hand: denying of oneself cannot be complete without giving of oneself.
I was reminded of this principle among Muslims, and the profound influence of Muhammad’s example in their lives, while living in Cairo, Egypt, during the holy month of fasting, Ramadan. 21 My family and I were invited by a Muslim friend, Nabil, to participate in his family’s evening meal in which they broke their fast. As we entered their modest apartment in one of the most impoverished quarters of Cairo, I noticed that one of the rooms was occupied by numerous peasant women (distinguishable by their black clothing) and their children. They were all sitting on the floor with food spread out before them on a cloth, quietly waiting for the call to prayer that marks the end of fasting each day. When I asked if they were his relatives, he replied: “No, I don’t know any of them. It is our habit to invite strangers off the street who cannot afford good food to share our Ramadan meal. We do this because it was one of the customs of our prophet, Muhammad.”
I was deeply moved by my Muslim friend’s unselfishness and compassion for the poor, and humbled by his good example in practicing a principle that I had learned from the Bible years before but had rarely observed: “When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors; … but when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee” (Luke 14:12–14).
A Latter-day Saint Perspective
How, then, might Latter-day Saints regard the Muslim community? The most helpful approach is to recognize the truths and values we share with our Muslim brothers and sisters, even while politely acknowledging that theological differences exist. Certainly Latter-day Saints do not agree with Islamic teachings that deny the divinity of Jesus Christ, the need for modern prophets, or the principle of eternal progression. But by being humble and open to spiritual light wherever it may be found, we benefit from the religious insights of Muslims and affirm similarities in belief such as faith, prayer, fasting, repentance, compassion, modesty, and strong families as cornerstones of individual spirituality and community life. 22
In a recent meeting with Muslim dignitaries, Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles focused on the common spiritual heritage of Mormons and Muslims. After quoting a verse from the Qur’an, he observed:
“God is the source of light in heaven and on earth. We share the belief with you. We resist the secular world. We believe with you that life has meaning and purpose. … We revere the institution of the family. … We salute you for your concern for the institution of the family. … Mutual respect, friendship, and love are precious things in today’s world. We feel those emotions for our Islamic brothers and sisters. Love never needs a visa. It crosses over all borders and links generations and cultures.” 23
The Prophet Joseph Smith, in one of his most eloquent pronouncements on tolerance and compassion, encouraged the Saints to expand their vision of the human family, to view people of other faiths and cultures as our Heavenly Father does and not according to the “narrow, contracted notions of men.” He taught that the Father will take complex personal, political, and social circumstances into account at the last day and render final judgment based on a divine, merciful perspective that surpasses our limited human understanding:
“While one portion of the human race is judging and condemning the other without mercy, the Great Parent of the universe looks upon the whole of the human family with a fatherly care and paternal regard; He views them as His offspring, and without any of the contracted feelings that influence the children of men, causes ‘His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.’ He holds the reins of judgment in His hands; He is a wise Lawgiver, and will judge all men, not according to the narrow, contracted notions of men, but, ‘according to the deeds done in the body whether they be good or evil,’ or whether these deeds were done in England, America, Spain, Turkey, or India. He will judge them, ‘not according to what they have not, but according to what they have,’ those who have lived without law, will be judged without law, and those who have a law, will be judged by that law. We need not doubt the wisdom and intelligence of the Great Jehovah; He will award judgment or mercy to all nations according to their several deserts, their means of obtaining intelligence, the laws by which they are governed, the facilities afforded them of obtaining correct information, and His inscrutable designs in relation to the human family; and when the designs of God shall be made manifest, and the curtain of futurity be withdrawn, we shall all of us eventually have to confess that the Judge of all the earth has done right.” 24
In response to the interfaith dilemma raised by the Church members in Los Angeles, I was grateful to state that we belong to a church that affirms the truths taught by Muhammad and other great teachers, reformers, and religious founders. We recognize the goodness reflected in the lives of those in other religious communities. While we do not compromise revealed eternal truths of the restored gospel, we never espouse an adversarial relationship with other faiths. Rather, in accordance with modern prophetic counsel, we seek to treasure up that which is virtuous and praiseworthy in other faiths and to cultivate an attitude of “affirmative gratitude” toward them. As Latter-day Saints, we believe that it is vital to respect and benefit from the spiritual light found in other religions, while seeking humbly to share the additional measure of eternal truth provided by latter-day revelation.
Gospel topics: brotherhood, tolerance, understanding
Sources on Latter-day Saint and Muslim Relations
Hunter, Howard W. “ ‘All Are Alike Unto God.’ ” In 1979 Devotional Speeches of the Year, 32–36. 1980.
Kennedy, David M. “More Nations Than One.” In Spencer J. Palmer, ed. The Expanding Church, 69–79. 1978.
Ludlow, Daniel H., ed. Encyclopedia of Mormonism. 5 vols. 1992. See “Middle East, The Church in the” and “World Religions (Non-Christian) and Mormonism: Islam.”
Mayfield, James B. “Ishmael, Our Brother,” Ensign, June 1979, 24–32.
Palmer, Spencer J., ed. Mormons and Muslims: Spiritual Foundations and Modern Manifestations. 1983.
Peterson, Daniel C. Abraham Divided: An LDS Perspective on the Middle East. 1995.
Platt, Joseph B. “Our Oasis of Faith,” Ensign, Apr. 1988, 39–41.
Toronto, James A. “Islam.” In Spencer J. Palmer and others. Religions of the World: A Latter-day Saint View, 213–41. 1997.
Notes
* Muslims are followers of the religion Islam (meaning “submission to God”). Islamic scripture is contained in the Qur’an (Koran).
1. In Sheri L. Dew, Go Forward with Faith: The Biography of Gordon B. Hinckley (1996), 536, 576.
2. In Conference Report, Apr. 1921, 32–33.
3. Defense of the Faith and the Saints, 2 vols. (1907), 1:512–13.
4. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith (1976), 313.
5. Teachings, 316.
6. In Russell M. Nelson, “Teach Us Tolerance and Love,” Ensign, May 1994, 70.
7. “The Gospel—A Global Faith,” Ensign, Nov. 1991, 18.
8. In Ensign, May 1994, 71; emphasis in original.
9. See Deseret News, 10 Oct. 1855, 242, 245.
10. First Presidency statement, 15 Feb. 1978.
11. The activities dealing with the family are coordinated by the World Family Policy Center at Brigham Young University that cosponsors an international interfaith coalition, the World Congress of Families, which includes representatives from many Muslim countries.
12. See “Islamic diplomats hosted in New York,” Church News, 3 Apr. 1999, 6.
13. Howard W. Hunter, “All Are Alike Unto God,” Speeches of the Year (1979), 36.
14. C.E. means Common Era, equivalent in time to the Christian A.D.
15. Iqbal Ahmad Azami, Muhammad the Beloved Prophet (1990), 14–15. The Ka’ba is the holy shrine in Mecca thought by Muslims to have been built by Abraham and his son Ishmael.
16. Allah is a contraction of al-ilah, meaning “the God.” It is the word used by all Muslim and Christian Arabs to refer to God and is also employed in Latter-day Saint scripture and practice in the Arabic-speaking world.
17. A. J. Arberry, trans., The Koran Interpreted (1955), 344.
18. These anecdotes about Muhammad’s personality are found in Annemarie Schimmel, And Muhammad Is His Messenger: The Veneration of the Prophet in Islamic Piety (1985), 46–49.
19. Ja’far Qasimi, “The Life of the Prophet,” in Islamic Spirituality, ed. Seyyed Hossein Nasr (1991), 92.
20. The first three hadith cited here are from al-Arba’in al-Nawawiyya [Nawawi’s Forty Hadith] (1976), 56, 88, 98. The last two hadith were recorded by the author during conversations with Muslim friends and acquaintances.
21. During Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to sunset for 30 consecutive days, abstaining from food, drink, tobacco, and other physical gratifications.
22. For more about the Muslim world or doctrinal similarities and differences, see Daniel C. Peterson, Abraham Divided: An LDS Perspective on the Middle East (1995), or James A. Toronto, “Islam,” in Religions of the World: A Latter-day Saint View, Spencer J. Palmer and others (1997), 213–41.
23. Church News, 3 Apr. 1999, 6, and author’s personal observation and notes.
24. Teachings, 218.
[photos] Above: Muhammad said that he was called by Allah (God) through the angel Gabriel, depicted here by a 14th-century Muslim artist. (Upper left: Courtesy of British Museum, London.) Right: Muslims believe that the Ka’ba in Mecca is the house of God. It is the sacred sanctuary toward which Muslims from all over the world pray five times daily. (Photo by L. Al Faruqi, reprinted by permission of the Gale Group.)
[illustration] Instead of depicting Allah or Muhammad in human form, Muslim religious art employs geometric and written forms that represent the divine and prophetic teachings of Islam. Here we see the name of God (Allah) written in Arabic, the original language of the Qur’an.
[illustration] Right: One of the five pillars of Islam is the pilgrimage to Mecca. This 13th-century illustration shows pilgrims traveling to Mecca. (Inset: Illustration from Maqamat, by Al-Hariri, courtesy of Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.)
[photo] Below: A present-day view of the Great Mosque in Mecca and the Ka’ba (located in the center). Muslims consider Mecca the holiest city in the world. (Photo by Mohamed Amin, Camerapix, Nairobi.)
[photo] Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (far right) and BYU professor Daniel C. Peterson (far left) with Muslim dignitaries at a reception held 10 February 2000 at the United Nations building in New York City to honor the Islamic Translation Series.)
[photo] Fasting during the daylight hours of the month of Ramadan is another of Islam’s five pillars. Here a family in Bahrain enjoys a predawn breakfast. (Photo by Christine Osborne.)
[photo] Most Muslims—approximately 75 percent—live in south and southeast Asia, not the Middle East. Here Malaysian children study the Qur’an. (Photo by Christine Osborne.)
[photo] Islam is growing rapidly throughout the world, as evidenced by this large new congregational mosque in Rome. (Photo © Foto Vasari.)
[photo] The most important religious holiday in the Islamic world is the Feast of Sacrifice, which marks the conclusion of the pilgrimage. Here thousands of Muslims gather for communal worship at the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan, to celebrate this feast. (Photo by Christine Osborne.)
[photo] The nationality and dress of this pilgrim, one of two million from throughout the world, reflect the cultural diversity in Islam. (Photo by L. Al Faruqi, reprinted by permission of the Gale Group.)
If you take the time to read this I'm sure that you will be enlightened, and have a new appreciation for others who are not of your same religion. There are alot of religions out there and most have the same beliefs. This is not a case of ignorance is bliss when you make statements that are not true. Please in the furture try and make sure you have your facts correct before you try to discredit another religion you really don't know anything about. Not to mention that this is not even a question. The reason I don't report you is because hopefully you'll learn something and have more tolerance in your life for others not of your belief.